Journal Quilts& Me

Journal quilts are not new to the rest of the quilting world and to the international group.We here too had done few theme based small group projects of different sizes over the years .

But some times as in life lots of things which you think as every day activity may not be so in some parts of the world.That is the story of Journal quilts in our group of local quilters.

But recently I have started developing a great liking to this miniature ,theme based ,art quilts.

locals and new entries into the quilt group consists of a few excellent artists , and their artistic thinking is amazing ,but they are just beginners in art quilting or in quilting. Their interest is to produce only utility quilts like big bed quilts. I wanted their artistic, imaginative side to come out and make them think out of the box.That is when I got the ladies to sign up for a Journal quilt group under the umbrella of our Q8quilters. It is a nice group with few experts and lots of novice together.

The most difficult thing was to make them accept to do this small A4 size quilts .We were fifteen in the group though many did not make it to the deadline we had enough pieces to exhibit and the feed back was great when they asked me what is the next topic:} Some of the JQ’s from here are chosen and going to see light in a bigger size in another exhibition soon.

So there we are as a group into Journal quilting and will keep going further.

Four Elements-Earth

From Top Left-Amal,Wafa’a,Ann,Suhaila,Ranju,Shyamala,Najeeba,Nidha

Four Elements-Water
From top left-Najeeba,Shyamala,Suhaila,Wafa’a,Ann ,Ranju.

Four Elements-Fire
From top left-Wafa’a, Najeeba,Ranju,Shyamala ,Suhaila,Ann

Four elements -Air

From top Left -Ranju,Najeeba,Shyamala,Wafa’a,Suhaila and Ann.

It was interesting how each one approaches a theme and I felt our exposure and our environment influences our thoughts.

Artists statements

Wafa’a Ali Al-Kandari Earth-The beauty of the earth is depicted in paper piecing techniques Water-I used small pieces of fabric to show how the wonderful colors and life under the water Fire- I imagine the fire is like a horse and it is difficult to catch it when it is on the run. Air-Air has different mode .Some time calm and some time angry. I am trying to show that by quilting

Ann Dennis Global Warming. A day in the life of a tree. Earth,Water,Fire Air effects the tree in different ways

Suhaila Hussain Al Ateiyah The nature is all around us and we have to interact with positive way. A happy nature results in a happy body and soul. Earth,Water,Fire and Air pieces are depicted with using different quilt techniques and hand quilting.

Najeeba Hasan Earth- Earth means life for people, plants and animals Water-Water is calm reminds of travels and means of transport Fire- Fire is scary and not friendly Air- Air the life line of every one and it can be friendly or dangerous.

Amal Sadek Earth- This is inspired by the desert in our region. I was reminded how hard it is to grow plants and trees in this part of the world.

Nida Khan Earth -Earth is a mixture of good and bad. Hate, war, can be overcome by kindness, love, prayer and lead to a peaceful earth.

Ranju Gandhi –Earth,Water,Fire ,Air are essential to life .Let us save our elements. Earth- Roots depicting the anchorage of life. Water –Our waters are so polluted that soon will be more plastic than fish in the seas Fire-Fires fueled by warming climate are increasing around the world and havoc in our forests Air- Air is vital for survival without it life would perish but pollution levels are raising and creating life threatening situations

Shyamala Rao I believe in positive thinking and believe the elements will respond positively. Earth- Holding roots deep in its soil the earth will help the trees grow bringing with it all life. The good earth is meant to do this and not to produce earthquakes. Water- It is the calm sea where the mermaids sing as they fetch pearls to the pearl divers .No more tsunami. Fire- The fire with all his grandeur and colors is cool within. Forest fires are not for him to create. Air- The cool breeze, the life line of all humans is colorful. Tornados and destruction is not the nature of air.